-
The Sydney skyline - Source: Reuters -
Watch Video
-
Related
After donning the boots and inspiring the Australian Broadcasting Corporation football team to hard fought victory over a despondent Sydney Morning Herald outfit, next stop was the Coles supermarket to buy some ice for my incredibly sore and aging Achilles tendons.
I ducked into the Coles car park in inner Sydney and limped back to the car with a bag of ice and a Gatorade, then disaster struck. No parking ticket. The car park ticket I had collected upon entry just moments beforehand and carefully put in a safe place, had simply disappeared.
It is perhaps one of the most frustrating things to happen, right up there with moving house I reckon, because you know there's no escaping having to pay the full day fare, which on this occasion, was $35. No wonder road rage is so rife!
So my $4 ice bag actually cost me $39 and I left the car park seething.
I have become yet another victim in the NSW government's attempts to raise money from motorists, which reached incredible new heights recently with the announcement that parking rates in the city will increase by whopping 110%. I didn't know whether to feel angry or lucky that the $39 bag of ice didn't cost me 80 bucks.
Prior to this increase, Sydney was already the most expensive city in the Asia Pacific region to park a car. Premium spots in, say, Martin Place in the CBD, will set you back $85 a day! That's $25 more expensive that in Melbourne's CBD. An off street space is increasing from a grand a year to well over $2,000.
According to an international global survey, Sydney already laid claim to the third most expensive monthly parking rate in the world, behind London city and London's West End.
So, word from the wise: If you are heading this way soon, forget the hire car and take a bus, train, cab or ferry to see the sights.
Or if your Achilles tendons are in better shape than mine, try walking.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
